SCHOOL PRINTS Page 1/3

Towards the end of the Second World War, Brenda Rawnsley and her husband Derek had the idea of bringing contemporary art to young children who would otherwise not have had the opportunity to see good work. The idea was to create original lithographs to be editioned in large numbers and sold cheaply to schools choosing to subscribe to the scheme.
Within a few years Brenda had set up School Prints Ltd to sell original lithographs to schools, and had commissioned several of the most important living artists for her scheme. The project was nurtured by the prevailing atmosphere of post-war optimism and democratic humanism: the future was what mattered, and the children in school embodied the future.